The Case of the Sloop "Active?
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THE CASE OF THE SLOOP "ACTIVE." BY HAMPTON L. CARSON. TN the office of the clerk of the Supreme A Court of the United States, among a mass of interesting but unpublished matter relating to the naval history of the Ameri can Revolution, can be found the original documents in a cele brated admiralty cause entitled " The Case of the Sloop 'Active.'" Although historians and law yers are more or less familiar with the main incidents of the narrative, yet many well - informed stu dents of history are ignorant of its de tails. It is the pur pose of this paper to present in a concise form the substantial features of the con troversy. The case presents a most notable col george lision between the United States and the State of Pennsylvania. Indeed, it may be said to constitute the only instance of armed resistance on the part of Pennsylvania to Federal authority; for though the Whiskey Insurrection, which convulsed the adminis tration of Washington, took place on Penn sylvania soil, yet it was but the tumult of an unorganized mob, and did not represent a rebellion on the part of the State. The case presents also an admirable illus tration of the evolution of national author ity. It lasted more than thirty years, be ginning in 1778 and terminating in 1809. It originated in a controversy as to a prize,
in the midst of the American Revolution. It outlived the old Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture, the establishment of which it did much to hasten; it survived the collapse of the Confederation, and was brought twenty years later before the Su preme Court of the United States for final determination. It exhibits at the outset the political impotence of the Continental Congress uttering a feeble pro test against State power while fully con scious of its own rights, and cowering beneath the prospect of a clash of author ity. It displays, a few years later, the increasing strength and courage of the infant nation, — the ross. gristle hardening into bone, — and it ter minates, after a series of sharp conflicts be tween State and Federal officers, in the absolute triumph of the national power. It displays all the inherent qualities of a romance, and its scenes are crowded with the most distinguished personages, who are arrayed against each other in situa tions which are highly dramatic. It opens with a tale of heroism cheated of its re ward by jealousy and chicane, contending with indomitable perseverance against great odds, until at the end of a struggle of thirty years the hero of the drama receives the fruits of his valor, and justice prevails over
